Exploration of Aztec gold in Santa Cruz, CA.
Exploration of Aztec gold in Santa Cruz, CA. Hernan Cortes was born in 1485 in Madrid Spain and sailed to the new world under that rain of Spain as a bold leader of the dreadful Conquistadores. Arriving in Mexico in 1518, his duty was to explore the new world and return with news. Cortes, beloved by the Spanish rulers, was a cold hearted man who treated his followers as slaves. He was known for his cruel terms of punishment and demanded respect from his peers even when his judgment was false. While exploring he discovered a powerful tribe of native people named Aztecs. Cortes introduced his army to the Aztec people as missionaries and was peacefully accepted into their culture. Cortes and his men spent many years living and learning the Aztecs traditions. Cortes spent most of his personal time developing his relationship with the Aztec warrior leader Cuauhtemoc, translation means, “One who has descended like an eagle.” Cortes did so to get closer to the Aztec treasures. The land where the Aztec people settled was abundantly rich with natural gold and there were signs of it imbedded in stone and incrusted in jewelry all over the tribe. Under strict command of his leader Saint Ferdinand III in 1519, Cortes was to obtain the gold and return to Spain with it onboard killing anyone who stood in his way. After receiving his duties from the King, Cortes decided to take some of the precious gold to a remote location where he would eventually come back for it himself. Cortes and his men agreed to join their common friend Diego Velazquez who ruled Cuba under the Spanish name, 1511-1524. In the summer of 1521 Diego Velazquez met Hernan, his men and a large portion of Aztec gold on the west coast of Mexico. Together they sailed north for 3 months until they reached a desired location just north of Santa Cruz, CA. Together they unloaded the riches and sailed back to Mexico just in time for the arrival of more Spanish conquistadores. The events that followed are known to the world as the elimination of the Aztec people by Spanish command. Looting and destroying all existence of the native people, Cortes and his fellow statesmen sailed back to Spain to receive awards for their bravery and loyalty to Spain. Diego Velazquez proceeded back to Cuba and for reasons unknown, was killed in 1524 by one of his close advisors. Cortes and his small group of men who knew of the berried Aztec treasure where waiting for the day they would sail back to the west coast to obtain their riches. In December of 1547, Cortes and most of his men disappeared off the coast of Spain while sailing back to Cuba under Spanish rule. The vessel, properly named, “Nava De Oro” which means Golden ship, was later found off the coast of Portugal on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. To this day the treasure of Cortes and Aztec gold still remains buried just north of Santa Cruz, CA. The amount worth today would be in the billions of U.S. dollars and undeniably the largest buried treasure never found in all of history. By Seth Clark Category:Buried treasure